Imran condemns 'illegal arrests, abductions' of PTI workers

Courts order the release of several PTI leaders; pleas against other party workers' arrests to be heard on May 18, 19

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan strongly condemned the ‘illegal arrests and abduction’ of his party’s workers and leaders on Wednesday.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the former premier highlighted that PTI Vice Chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Secretary General Asad Umar were still incarcerated “for more than a week now”.

He also stated that “despite court orders, journalist Imran Riaz Khan was not presented in court” with “confirmed” reports of torture against him

I strongly condemn the illegal arrests and abduction of our workers and leaders. Our Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Secy General Asad Umar have also been incarcerated for more than a week now.
Also, despite court orders journalist Imran Riaz Khan has not been presented in…

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 17, 2023

Imran demanded the “immediate release” of all women PTI leaders, workers, and the women family members of PTI leaders and questioned why Shehrayar Afridi’s wife was in jail.

“This is purely to spread terror amongst the people so that they don’t stand up for their constitutional rights,” he remarked.

He further added that he was “deeply disturbed” after hearing about former human rights minister Dr Shireen Mazari’s treatment as well as her “daughter being physically assaulted by male police officers”.

The PTI chief stated that after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to Mazari and Senator Falak Naz, who were “abducted from within Adiala Jail and taken to Secretariat Police Station where Dr Mazari's screams were heard”.

Imran continued that the “video evidence coming forward of the barbaric treatment” of PTI’s women supporters was “reprehensible” and many women members of the National Assembly (MNAs), supporters and workers were “being held in jails across Pakistan under inhumane conditions, vulnerable to police excesses”.

“These abductions and the treatment being meted out to women by this fascist government are not only grave human rights violations but are strictly against our culture and Islamic teachings,” he stated.

Imran demanded that all women be “immediately released” as their “continued incarceration is unconscionable”.

Read PTI leadership continues to evade arrests

The deposed prime minister added that he was also raising the issue with international human rights organisations.

Several PTI leaders released again

A court in Islamabad on Wednesday issued orders for the case against PTI leader Shireen Mazari to be discharged after she was re-arrested immediately after her court-mandated release a day earlier.

The former human rights minister was produced in the Islamabad Judicial Complex, in the court of Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Shabir.

According to the court ruling, Mazari was ordered to be released due to insufficient evidence.

The court further ordered the release of PTI Senator Falak Naz and rejected the police's request for a three-day physical remand for both leaders.

Meanwhile, the IHC issued orders for the release of PTI leaders Maleeka Bokhari and Ali Muhammad Khan.

Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb heard the plea against their arrests under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO).

The court declared the arrest null and void and instructed that the two political leaders be released.

The high court also called for arguments on petitions against the arrest of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Musarrat Cheema, Asad Umar, Saifullah Niazi and Ejaz Chaudhry on May 18 and 19.

The IHC further ordered the deputy commissioner of Islamabad to submit records related to the arrest.

Short-lived freedom

Yesterday, the release of PTI leaders on bail took an unforeseen twist as law enforcement authorities swiftly intervened, curtailing their newfound freedom.

The political arena experienced a tumultuous series of events as influential PTI figures, such as former human rights minister Shireen Mazari and Senator Falak Naz, were promptly re-arrested immediately after their court-ordered release from Adiala jail.

Separately, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry had to run back to the capital’s high court to take refuge after getting bail in a case as the police waited for him outside the court.